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The Roofing Professionals Westside

Author: Jack Yuen

  • Roof Repairs Sydney 2024

    Sydney Roof Repairs 2024

    Roof repairs in Sydney have changed a lot in the last two decades

    and this change is accelerating in line with advancing technology.

    In 2024, searching for the right roofer to repair a leaking roof is a lot different to what it was – even 10 years ago. We now have so many different options for search since the demise of The Yellow Pages.

    But MORE is definitely not BETTER.

    Even though it is easier to do a search – it has become harder to separate the good from the bad roofers. There are a lot more independant roof repairers operating in the Sydney roof repair scene – but 80% of them do not get the necessary training to produce good work.

    This means expensive ‘Hit & Miss’ hires by Sydney property owners when their roof starts leaking. If it takes hiring more than one roofing contractor to repair just one roof leak, the cost of roof repairs gets expensive.

    Searching for information has become interesting under the recent influence of Artificial Intelligence and the demise of traditional media.

    More people are now searching for their products and services through social media. Pictures and video have killed words.

    Moving forward, we will be using our own personal intelligence assistant to help us navigate our ever expanding world. We have seen the rapid progression of the Large Language Models which can use written works to devastating effect when ESSAYS are needed. However, these still need text input.

    But our future personal assistant (another phone upgrade!) will be trained on voice, images and video. Everything you want with the swipe of a finger or your voice commands.

    Jack the Roofer may be getting old, but he intends to be around the roof repair game for a long time yet.

    He happened to discover video as a tool that can be of benefit for a lot of people – over a dozen years ago. That was LUCK.

    Video has kept The Roofing Professionals Westside relevant to a lot of Sydney homeowners. And this happens to be the source of much of Jack’s current roof repair work.

    …Not the traditional key word based Google search – which is now, an ad-centric shambles to navigate.

    Roof repairs 2024 and beyond:

    Sydney is usually the forerunner of change. And this means that what is happening here is (and will be) applicable to the rest of Australia.

    Jack the Roofer believes that the challenge for the Australian Roof repair industry is the same challenge facing the rest of the Australian Building Industry.

    Too many players with too little training.

    Properly trained roofers will thrive in a culture of quality work that past generation ‘TRADESMEN’ used to take pride in providing. We have to INVEST in our future workers – to reveal the benefits that will far outweigh the investment cost.

    So that instead of getting a 20% hit rate of getting a good roofer, it will be the other way around.

    80% of roofers out there will be GOOD!

    …There will always be that other 20% – that’s life…
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    The Roof repairs Sydney 2024 VIDEO below:

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  • Roof Repairs Sydney – Don’t Let Leaks Dampen Your Life

    Roof Repairs Sydney – Don’t Let Leaks Dampen Your Life

    Sydney Roof repair services – Don’t let leaking roofs dampen your life

    If a typical Sydney storm can pop a manhole cover out of the road, imagine the kind of roof leaks it can do to your roof

    On Christmas eve, 2023, a storm passed through Sydney, while some suburbs got off lightly, Homebush collected 28mm of rain in a 30 minute period from 11.30am. This is the sort of rain that lead to a lot of leaking roofs.

    Table of Contents

    heavy rain in Homebush Sydney

    Roof Repair Services in Sydney – An Introduction

    In an ideal world, we would put a roof up and never have to go back to do any repairs on it.

    But we live in an imperfect world and like everywhere else, Sydney’s roofs have their unique challenges that are climate and quality related.

    And whilst climate variability is alive and well in Sydney, only two events stand out over the last quarter century as being defining phases in our roof repair world. These were the 1999 Sydney hailstorm and the 2022 record Sydney wet that hammered our roofs, causing massive insurance costs, and somewhat changed the face of Sydney roof repairs.

    The other challenge to repairing leaking roofs has been floating around like an iceberg. We only see the tip, but it is the part lurking beneath the waterline that has gathered momentum and threatens to be the challenge that money will not fix.

    This lurking element has even forced the NSW government to set up the Building Commission as a policing attempt to remedy. And this major challenge that house roofs (and all other parts of a home) are suffering from is “BUILD QUALITY”.

    Sydney is suffering from properly trained tradies in the building industry. And this means shoddy and defective work that need repair work – even before the house is complete. Instead of tradies walking away from the work with a sense of pride and knowing that their work will stand the test of time, they pack up and hope for the best. Most have no intention (or even the opportunity) to return when their work fails – so that they can learn and do better on the next job.

    Now that we have exposed the flaws in our building industry in general, we will examine on this post, the intricacies of the Roof Repair Industry in Sydney and how a typical homeowner can navigate the murky waters to find a suitable roofer who can repair their roof like a true tradesman.

    1999 Sydney hailstorm report

    Sydney Roof Repair Services Impact # 1: How the 1999 hailstorm changed Sydney Roofers

    Any disaster will leave us with new experiences and lessons to be learnt.

    The memorable 1999 Sydney hailstorm was life-defining for a particular civil engineer working on the Eastern Distributor tunnel under Taylor Square in Sydney.

    This was the event that turned Jack the Engineer into ‘Jack The Roofer’.

    Surrendering a project manager’s two-way radio (that managed a team of construction workers) and swapping it for a roofing ladder whilst walking up and down the same streets as his previous job, the new recruit was pretty apprehensive.

    Fast tracking from a desk job to a labouring role and apprenticing to a real roofing tradesman was a revelation.

    Many other roofers would have started their careers during the massive roof repair chapter of Sydney’s history. But I doubt that most of them would have had the good luck of mentoring under a roofer who was highly skilled and proud of his handiwork.

     

    • Roofer shortages:

    Construction workers are migratory. They go to where the work is.

    In the 1999 Sydney hailstorm clean-up, roofers flocked into Sydney from all over Australia. With this influx, new skills and roof repair methods were introduced to Sydney roofers. Whilst some of these (like the use of flexible pointing on ridge capping) improved the standard of Sydney roof repairs, the “she will be right’ culture of transient roofers left its indelible mark.

     

    • Material shortages:

    Roof tiles suffered the most from the hailstorm and the roof tile manufacturers worked round the clock and still came up short. This opened the opportunity for metal roofs to become a viable alternative to roof tiles. Metal roofers got busier.

    This also opened the opportunity to ‘harvest roof tiles’ from a partly damaged roof for re-use to repair another tile roof – with one of the roofs spouting a new colorbond metal roof. This mixture of smart and luck meant Sydney roofs shrugging off the tarps and returning to normal service within the span of a year.

     

    • The legacy of skill shortages:

    Knowing that they will not be around for long to honour their work, transient roofers leave this culture behind for the local roofers to fall back to.

    So, when the temporary segment of roofers departed for other pastures, It left a generation of lazy roofers in Sydney.

     

    Sydneys wettest year on record

    Sydney Roof Repair Services Impact # 2: Lessons from the 2022 ‘BIG WET”

    Short duration storms do not expose the smaller faults that most roofs suffer from. When we got the wettest year on record in 2022, these faults became apparent, and nearly every house had a leaking roof.

    The demand for roofers who could repair leaking roofs suddenly “went through the roof!”

    Unlike the 1999 Hailstorm, this demand was for a different type of roofer. Roofers who excelled in replacing or repairing hailstorm damaged roofs are usually clueless in diagnosing the causes of the type of roof leaks brought about by a long-wet spell. Some of these faulty roofs defied the best roof experts and they failed to identify the root causes of these roof leaks.

     

    • The role of insurance companies:

    Insurance assessors had an easy time with the 1999 Sydney hailstorm. It was fairly obvious that almost every insurance claim in hail affected areas were based on hail (and subsequent water) damage. Insurance companies did not need their own expert roof inspectors to evaluate the damage claim.

    The 2022 Sydney WET was quite different. The rain was not accompanied by any hail or wild winds. It just rained for a very long time.

    So what actually caused the roof leaks? And can any of these leaks be blamed back to a storm event?

    Remember that the role of insurance companies is to limit their payouts – so that they can continue trading…

    With the large volume of water damage claims, the insurance companies had to have expert proof that the roof leaks were not the result of any storm – but were the result of “wear & Tear” and lack of proper roof maintenance. These expert proofs would then allow the insurance companies to deny most of Sydney homeowners’ roof repair claims.

    We saw a lot of expert roof reports commissioned by insurance companies- supplied by courtesy of homeowners with rejected claims. Thankfully, most insurance came to the party and settled on part of the claims. But these were based on the homeowner commissioning their own roof repairer to do the recommended roof repairs.

     

    • A new breed of roof repairer – the roof inspector:

    We often get requests to write roof reports for clients who need expert documentation for negotiations. We prefer just doing the roof repair and save on the argument.

    But roof reports must be a nice niche for desk-bound roofers. We have seen so many roof reports recently (by roof inspectors of varying expertise) and wonder if we are missing out. Producing a quick and easy roof report does not seem to demand expert roof repair skills.

    This is evidenced by the quality of roof repair reports that homeowners have shown us. None of them seem to show the required expertise to get to the root of the roof problem. We are often the ‘last straw’ for homeowners who want an expert roof repair quote based on the real roof condition and the causes of the its problems.

    A roof inspector at the end of a drone is common. Maybe, they do not know how to use ladders?

     

    • Another new breed of roof repairer – the pro-am:

    Supply follows demand.

    After the big WET, everyone needed a roofer. Any roofer. And most homeowners got the Pro-Am.

    Some of these amateur roofers are pretty good and satisfied the huge itch. Simple roof repair work like cleaning out gutters, valleys, replacing roof tiles and applying lots of silicone were performed by these roofers quite effectively.

    When the demand eased and these Pro-Am roof repairers stayed on to repair Sydney roofs, they ‘knew just enough to be DANGEROUS”.

    The real Roofing Professionals will now have to clean up the amateur work.

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    Independent Sydney roofing contractors

    Sydney Roof Repair Services Impact # 3: The growth of small roofing contractors

    Big building companies found out that employing sub-contractors was more cost effective than having their own large crew of construction workers. There was a big push to turn tradies into ‘Independent contractors’ – all to the benefit of the big players.

    This work style has some ‘downsides’ that the Australian Government is trying to fix by introducing the  ‘The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Bill 2023.”

    In the Sydney Roofing scene, the loopholes are alive and well. We now have a few large roofing companies with small crews of  ‘in-house’ roofers and plenty of ‘independent roofing contractors’.

    • Easy to call yourself a roofer:

    Anyone who wants to call themselves a qualified roofer in Sydney just needs to find a roofing company who needs cheap roof labourers. If they show diligence and a willingness to learn, the company can offer to put them through a TAFE course. This is like a school for naive teenagers who have no other choice in careers.

    It is not a great classroom – but there is structured teaching about becoming a roofer. After a couple of years of this and the graduate with some work experience can apply for a roofer’s licence.

    If the roofing company do not see the benefit in sending their labourer to school, they can do their own in-house training and the budding roofer can do a ‘private certified’ module and also come away with a qualification and a roofing licence.

    While both pathways are valid, the value of the roofing qualification to a homeowner is questionable. Surely, a proper roofer needs to be trained to certain levels of competence and be able to show skilled application of this knowledge?

     

    • Questionable roof training produces questionable roofers:

    Train and retain.

    This is the two-piece puzzle that businesses have been trying to piece together to enable Training is time consuming and expensive and when retention fails, it is really BAD. Even worse is the tendency for the best to leave and the mediocre filling up the pool of resources.

    The big roofing companies need a training program. But they struggle with retention also. And when contractors begin to dominate the workforce, there is no incentive for expensive training.

    We have roofers thinking that they know enough – purely because they work for themselves. And they do not make enough money to invest in their own training.

    Looks like we have a problem…

    • Thousands of roofers marching in different directions:

    There is about 1,000 roofing contractors in Sydney (courtesy of Google’s BARD Gemini). This is a lot for the 1.2M homeowners in Sydney to choose from.

    The majority hang out in service directories (like Hipages) looking for roofs to fix. While directories like the Yellow Pages were the ‘Go to’ for homeowners looking for roofers a decade ago, there are a lot more options today. But it is no easier today to find where all the good roofers in Sydney hang out.

    Every roofer in Sydney thinks that they can do any sort of roofing work and become ‘generalists’. Few are brave enough to choose a niche and specialise in that.

    Makes it harder for a homeowner to find a specialist roof to repair that special roof problem…

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    Roofing scams in Sydney caught on TV

    Sydney Roof Repair Services Impact # 4: The shining object syndrome that affects all roofers.

    Nobody reads a manual anymore. Screen scrolling has taken over.

    We have too many ‘shining objects’ stealing our limited attention and our roofers frequently forget to pack all their tools at the end of a job. They don’t seem to forget their phones on the roofs though…

    • Experts persist, where others give up:

    Professional roof repairers call themselves ‘Roof Surgeons’. They detect the likely cause of a roof leak and come up with a procedure to ‘open up the roof’, perform the anticipated operation and have a dig around to see if there are any other potential problems. This last step is what separates the real professional roof repairer from the so called ‘Roof Doctors’ who ply their trade without the necessary hard earned skills.

    Whilst Roof Doctors attempt to remove the symptoms with generic handiwork, The highly skilled Roofing Professionals do everything to establish a CURE.

    It will involve a lot of patience, attention to detail and focus – which is in short supply for most roofers.

    • The death of trust in roofers:

    The mainstream TV have regular exposes on ‘rip-off roofers’. Roofers are the latest in the ‘get rich’ scheme. Fast in, fast out and fast cars…

    We roofers are akin to used car salesmen. And we only have ourselves to blame. The behaviour of a section of infamous roofers who are in merely to make some quick money, pulls down the reputation of roofers down to the bottom of the ‘trusted professions’ list.

     

    • The way to improvement for Sydney roofers:

    There is a lot of talk about CULTURE when organisations look at changing for the better.

    “People like us – do things like this”.

    It is a hard task to unite a band of roof mercenaries (each with their own agendas). History shows that it just takes a few leaders and a common cause for people to band together to fight a common enemy or to achieve a common outcome.

    Mexican waves, Flashmobs, 9/11 are all examples of dropping ‘culture’ into mobs of strangers.

    Improvement just needs a change in Roofing Culture for Sydney roofers.

     

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    Lessons from Jack The Roofer

    Roof Repair Services in Sydney – Lessons from Jack the Roofer

    I tell my roofers to do things and be prepared for some of them to be totally wrong. Then the next critical step is to admit the mistake and re-engineer the situation.

    All my Engineering class suffered through the module titled “Cost Benefit Analysis” in their engineering economics course. It kind of made sense – but it was real boring.

    Now, approaching my 7th decade, I have finally realised that applying “Cost Benefit Analysis” (whether witting or unwitting) throughout my life have shaped the way I am today.

     

    80 20 rule and the bell curve

    Sydney Roof Repair Services Lesson  # 1: The 80/20 rule

    I always thought that Maths was ‘Real’, and Statistics was ‘Made -up.’  How can the bell curve compete with the Pythagoras theorem?

    Now, much older and carrying around a huge bag of mistakes, I accept that Statistics can be more real that pure maths. When governments rely on a bunch of statistics to control our lives, we must accept that statistics is serious business.

    Birthed from the BELL CURVE, there is one observed discovery that should be fundamental thinking for all of us. And this is the 80/20 rule (correctly attributed as the PARETO Principle).

    This is a rule that canl explain why the Sydney Roof repair industry is just as ‘messed up’ as everything else in the world.

    • Only 20% of Sydney roofers get to the’ REAL EXPERT ‘level:

    We have apprentices go through vocational training at TAFE as a pathway to becoming a qualified roofer.

    We also have roof labourers do a ‘private certified’ course and come away with a qualification and a roofing licence.

    Whilst both pathways are ‘Legit’, the universal goal of “getting a roofing licence” sabotages the ultimate intent of the journey to develop roofing skills to become a ‘top-notch’ roofer. The incentive of our system is to get to the licence to achieve the specific goal and miss the ultimate purpose of becoming a roofer.

    Just as the purpose of life is NOT to ‘die happy’ – the purpose of a budding roofer is not just to get to the licence. But only 20% of roofers understand this. They think that getting to the licence is the ultimate goal.

    If a roofer is not on a continuous mission to grow their expertise, they do not get to the EXPERT level. It seems that statistics also apply to roofers. Only 20% of them seem to get to the EXPERT level.

    • 80 % of Sydney roofers get by with 20% roofing expertise:

    Faced with the fact that what we ‘don’t know that we don’t know’, represents the vast portion of our knowledge bank, we still get by pretty good.

    Compared to professional race car drivers, all of us know very little about how to drive a car properly – yet there are billions of us on the roads hurling our vehicles against each other (quite badly) and still making to our destinations safely.

    It is the same with Sydney roofers. Most only need to know just 20% of what roofing is about to get hired. And 80% of the time, 20% is all they need to perform their job adequately.

    • Only 20% of Sydney roofers actually specialise in roof repairs:

    Tradies who call themselves Roofers in Sydney, will come with a range of specialities. Some are commercial roofers and do large roofs for industrial and residential developments. Some only do residential roofs. Others specialise in fascia and gutters. Some are metal roofers and other, roof tilers.

    Very few call themselves just “Roof Repairers’. That is why only 20% of roofers out have some decent knowledge of how to repair roofs. Roofers in this segment need a wider range of expertise that demands intimate know of all types of roofing and guttering. So, most roofers do not bother with developing this skillset.

    •  20% of roof faults are the cause of 80% of the problems with Sydney roofs:

    The handful of roof faults that cause the bulk of the roof problems are things like: Blocked gutters and valleys, inappropriate roof pitch, inadequate roof flashings and bad quality roof build.

    With adequate knowledge of this basic 20%, roofers and homeowners alike can make sense of most roof problems that they come across.

    We don’t need to know a lot to be useful on a roof issue.

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    high roof repair cost with negative benefits

    Sydney Roof Repair Services Lesson # 2: The COST-BENEFIT consideration

    When the expensive ROZELLE INTERCHANGE opened for vehicles in October 2023, there was traffic chaos. The benefits of such a n engineering feat were called to question and this maybe how some of you would have heard the phrase ‘Cost-Benefit analysis’.

    When I was a practising Project manager, I should have based all my decisions on the results of  a cost benefit analysis. I should have listed all the costs and the corresponding benefits of all the actions needed to bring the project to completion and made all my decisions on that often-complicated calculation.

    What happened, was that I lazily succumbed to using my intuition.

    That made for bad decisions when my intuition was based on faulty data or inappropriate framework.

    Unlike Engineers who are ‘drilled’ about the value of Cost-Benefit analysis, Homeowners and Roofers do not know what this means – let along use this concept to optimise for better outcomes.

    • Choosing the right roofer – where homeowners falter:

    Repairing a roof presents a cost. A watertight roof is the benefit. This seems simple.

    But simplifying the decision into these two data points creates the fallacy that the cheapest option to repairing a roof for the homeowner will yield the maximum benefit. Any decent analysis needs to be done using all relevant data points – rather than just the most obvious.

    Cost Items like: Provisional costs (if further repairs are required): Lost opportunity (inefficient time expense); Worry (there actually is a cost to this); Devaluation (some roof repairs can actually cheapen your roof); Relationship (arguments between partners and others); More…

    On the other side of the evaluation, Benefits should include: Good experience (think of the experiences that you are happy to pay for); Peace of Mind (certainly worth paying for); Certainty (priceless?); Insurability (Insurers like watertight roofs); Fit for Purpose (Inappropriate solutions are expensive); More…

    Homeowners often wonder why there is no fixed cost for a roof repair. The reason is quite simple. There are a multitude of cost components and the quoted price is often NOT the real price – if all the cost components above are taken into consideration. And then the benefits of the proposed repair have to be added to the equation.

    If choosing the right roofer at the right price is so simple, we will not have this large section of homeowners who are on their second or third roofer and still are worried sick about their roofs.

    • Choosing the right roof repair price – where Sydney roofers fall over:

    The fear of every roofer is falling off a roof.

    But most Sydney roofers seem to have no fear of falling over the choice of how much they charge for who they service. Survival of a roofing business depends on a different Cost-Benefit Analysis.

    We were cruising across multiple Sydney suburbs (with varying real estate values) last week and my wife asked me: “Is it true that Tradies (and that includes you as a roofer) charge a different price for different suburbs?”

    How a roofer answers this question can determine the longevity of their roofing business. Any decent Cost-Benefit Analysis will report that factors like: Which Sydney suburb is the roof repair in; What is the status of the client; Urgency; More… will all point to a different costing for the same type of roof repair.

    The correct answer is that it matters where (and for whom) a roof repair is performed in Sydney.

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    Roofer playing the long game - make a promise

    Sydney Roof Repair Services Lesson # 3: De-stress with The LONG Game

    It is appropriate that because we specialise in repairing Roofs in distress – this level of anxiety is carried over to how we feel every time it rains (whether we are at work or at home).

    Stress is an internal mechanism for growth. It is when this grow gets out of control (much like a healthy cell turns into a high growth cancer cell), that suffering happens. Whilst exercise is healthy stress for our bodies, overeating is on the opposite end of the stress spectrum.

    I have found that the simple (but stressful) act of turning my phone off is the key to de-stressing against the distress of leaking roofs.

     

    • The best roofers are ‘pumped-up’ – not ‘stressed-out’:

    People (and Sydney roofers are no different) respond well to challenges that they feel they can overcome. There is an excitement to proving that they are up to it.

    Overwhelm is when people feel they have lost control. This is the ‘stressed-out’ state.

    I have found that training myself to be on the leading-edge of what I do, to be the key to stay in the ‘pumped-up’ state. When I know that I am probably the best person to do something, I can afford to do it when it suits me. Doing things in my own time means that I can give it my full attention. There is no overwhelm.

    Being the expert roofer also means that failures will occur – but there will always be another solution on hand. Confidence in working with time to solve any problem is the killer of ‘short-term thinking’.

    The alternative of ‘The Long Game’ will then become a viable alternative.

     

    • When a roof repair becomes a promise:

    All marriages begin with a promise. Then that promise instantly struggles to fend off constant threats of erosion.

    Threats of trust, changing agendas, ravages of time and more… All these will make it easier to break rather than keep the promise.

    It is the same with a roof repair.

    Most roof repairs are just transactional. Just like the swipe of the ‘TINDER’ app to satisfy two subsets of a marketplace. Promises are seldom discussed. Truths are seldom told or valued.

    For roofing companies who intend to be around for a long time, their roof repairs go beyond the ‘one hit affair’. They make a promise to their clients.  It is ‘for better or worse’.

    They will stick around.

     

    • Gone fishing – the sign of a job well done:

    Give a person a fish, and you will end up with a fishing job. Train them how to fish and they will feed themselves for life)

    We can only repair a certain number of roofs in our lifetimes.

    So, whilst our job is to repair as many roofs as we can, we realise that the long game is to train other roofers (and homeowners who we are not able to serve) the basics of roofing and the incentivise them to continue with their own learning. If we can pass the baton on effectively, everyone can go on their own fishing trip.

    We like being redundant.

    Final words from Jack The Roofer about Sydney Roof repairs

    Roof Repair Services in Sydney – final words from Jack the Roofer

    Perfection in anything is a dead end. I am quite a long way from perfect and (while I cringe a little) I expect faults that only others see in me, to urge me to do better. I don’t expect all 5-star Google reviews.

    The world of information is evolving rapidly with Artificial Intelligence showing up suddenly as the new disruptor. The next challenge for us is to recognise the fake from the TRUTH. Google uses EEAT in its algorithms to sort the database for the world’s information.

    Maybe we all need to use this (EEAT) in the future to find the authentic roof repairers out there.

     

    • Experience:

    There are a lot of old roofers in SYDNEY.

    Whilst some roofers grow OLD and WISE, most just get old…

    Experience can be measured in years. But the best way to measure experience is the volume and quality of learning spanning those years.

    Available data over the internet will show that Jack at the Roofing Professionals Westside started roofing in 1999. But just exactly what type of learning happened since then is harder to find.

     

    • Expertise:

    There are also a lot of roof experts in Sydney. Some of them even call themselves ROOF DOCTORS.

    Expertise in roof repairs is an easier measure to research. Google does a great job in listing snippets of content that demonstrate expertise. It is therefore quite easy to check out the expertise of Jack the Roofer in the field of roof repairs in Sydney.

     

    • Authoritativeness:

    Authority has been my main weakness. I hate bossing people around. How can I control others when I have enough trouble controlling myself?

    I like the alternate “Making an IMPACT” description instead.

     

    • Trustworthiness:

    Trust starts by looking in the mirror.

    When I learnt to trust myself, I learnt to trust others.

    When I realised that others started to put the trust in me, the circle was complete.

    In the Roof repair game, trust seems all tilted against the homeowner. Whilst the roofer demands a deposit before the work starts and does not guarantee an effective roof service, the homeowner has enough trust to part with their money at every point of the transaction.

    The Roofing Professionals Westside has a policy of NO deposit and payment after the roof repair service (together with a warranty). This trust that the homeowner will then do the right thing in turn has occasionally backfired on us.

    Not everyone pays us properly. But the majority of our clients reward our trust with timely payment and repeat (and referral) work. This is enough to keep us on this path of trusting everyone…

     
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    Roof Repairs Sydney Roofing Portal

    Last Words

    I am writing this post as we close off 2023 and look forward to 2024.

    Well researched readers will know that my roof repair business (The roofing Professionals Westside) is now in partnership with The Roofing Portal (as its anchor and founding partner). This partnership will mean a continuity of my ability to service the Sydney community as I pass on what I have learnt over the last decades of my life (both in roof repairs and otherwise) to the younger generation.

    From our base in Homebush west, we will continue to build on our core roof repair expertise to serve homeowners within a 20km radius. Our future plans are to bring on more roofing (and other building trade) partners to cover more of the outer suburbs of Sydney and beyond. These partners will also mean more roofing (and building) services outside of our core roof repair expertise.

    Thank you for your time (and interest) in reaching the end of this article – and I hope that you have gained some valuable insights into how the Roof Repair Industry in Sydney operates.

    You can easily continue your journey with us to The Roofing Portal by booking an appointment.

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  • Protecting Your Home – A Guide to Leaking Roof Repairs in Sydney

    Protecting Your Home – A Guide to Leaking Roof Repairs in Sydney

    Are you aware that your biggest asset, your home, could be under a silent attack right now?

    This attack is the insidious problem of roof leaks — a ticking time bomb that could wreak havoc on your property. So, you will need a GUIDE to diffuse the situation.

    Leaking roof damaging ceiling in home


    Sydney Roof Repair Guide Tip # 1: The Unseen Enemy of Roof Leaks in Sydney’s Harsh Variable Climate

    Sydney’s variable climate presents unique challenges for your roof. From harsh sun exposure to torrential rains and the occasional hail storm, your roof is constantly under stress. And to add to these challenges, the quality of Sydney roofers is mostly questionable. This Sydney Roof repair guide is the handy tool for a Sydney homeowner to understand the nature of their roof and the nature of the roof repair industry in Sydney. The more that a homeowner knows, the better will be the decisions that will be made for the longevity of their home.

    The common causes of roof leaks in Sydney fall into these 3 categories:

    • Storm Damage:

    Sydney is not in a cyclonic zone, which means that roofs are not built to withstand high winds and heavy rains. So, when Sydney gets the odd super wet and windy event, its roofs may not be strong enough.

    Tile ridge capping and even roof tiles routinely lift off Sydney roofs – and even metal roof sheets peel off due to the high winds.

    When the volume (intensity) of the accompanying rain is near or over the design target, some types of roofing material will not be able to cope and roof leaks will suddenly appear. Low pitched roofs are particularly susceptible to leaks from super heavy rainfall. Most gutters will overflow when it is overloaded and where there are insufficient overflow provisions, stormwater can enter the house.

    Since most property owners have little control over how their roof and gutters have been installed, roof leaks due to a bad storm is hard to prevent. The best that a home owner can do is to ensure that there are no debris on the roof and gutters prior to the storm.

    • Aged or Worn Roofing Materials:

    It should not come as a surprise that the older your roof is, there is more chance that some roof elements will be getting old and past its ‘use-by’ date.

    The  most common age-related problem with metal roofs is RUST. Metal is protected against rust by sacrificial coatings and paint. These coatings eventually wear away and expose the bare base metal to water and oxygen – parents for the birthing of rust.

    In the era before roofing silicone, roof, gutter and flashing joints were soldered and rivetted. These eventually wear out due to movement and the overlap of different types of materials. Roofing silicone changed the way roofing joints are put together.

    But even the most advanced roofing sealant have a design life (which varies according to exposure to the sun). Over time, these will deteriorate and joints will open up and leak.

    Lead was the most common flashing material – until we found out that it can be harmful to our health. Lead suffers when it is exposed to the sun and is in a position of stress. The movements apply a lot of tension and cracks start to form. It may take a few years, but there is no prevention against this, especially under the harsh Australian sun.

    The new substitutes for lead like ‘Wakaflex’ has not been put through decades of service yet and is somewhat unproven. But it is the best that we have right now.

    The good thing about roof tiles is that they do not rust. Most modern roof tiles exhibit little stress over many decades of service. Their shortcoming is their brittleness. They crack under impact. And if the tile has been phased out over the decades, then it will be difficult to get replacement roof tiles. It is wise to get some spare roof tiles that will fit your roof now (while you can) and store them for future use.

    Don’t be fooled by the roof restoration companies that claim that roof tiles get porous and water laden. These are utterly false claims.

    • Improper Installation:

    Suppliers of roofing materials go to great lengths to design their products to perform under certain service conditions. Otherwise, a ‘product recall’ becomes necessary.

    They have no control on how and where their products are being installed. Therefore, the roof installers shoulder the full responsibility for the installation component – and this is where many roof failures are born.

    The majority of roofers in Sydney seem to disregard the product manufacturer’s recommendations and naively install roof components to look good or to be ‘cost effective’. Typical principles that roofers disobey are:

    1. Disregarding minimum roof pitch requirements. There are critical design reasons why corrugated roofs are to be laid at a minimum of 5 degrees; Kliplok profile roofs can be laid down to a 1 degree pitch; Tile roofs need minimum pitches of 22 degrees; and tile roofs with downpipe spreader and valley discharge loading need to be steeper.
    2. Tile roof ridging lacking weep holes. The pointing along all tile ridge capping will crack over time and suck water in. This is when weep holes are essential to release the water ingress.
    3. Detailing along wall abutments. Flat profile roof tiles need special flashings when the tiles are placed alongside a wall; the apron flashing along a wall is the only roof element that waterproofs the gap between the roof tile/roof sheet, so its correct design and installation is critical.
    4. Design demands for skylight installations. Cutting a hole on a roof seems wrong when roof watertightness is paramount. But holes are cut on roofs every day to install roof skylights. Some skylights (like Velux) have strict installation requirements. And because these requirements can get complex, most roofers just throw the installation manual away and hope for the best.
    5. Roof valleys. These may look like simple strips of metal on a roof. But there are complex things that valleys have to overcome to stay waterproof. Most roofers seem to ignore these.
    6. Box Gutters. These need much design thought and execution to prevent the devastating overflow leak that can flood a property. Every box gutter should be worried about…
    7. Eaves gutters. Whilst much of the eaves gutters can be slapped on and permitted to overflow like waterfalls during heavy rain – and get away with it, some installations will make the home suffer.
    Worn and uncared for roofs

    Sydney Roof Repair Guide Tip # 2: How leaking roofs impact your home

    A leaking roof is not just an inconvenience that will go away if you don’t think about it when the rain stops (seems like a typical excuse we get when inspecting a long term roof leak). It’s a serious threat that can create situations that will shorten the life of your property or even shorten your life!

    • Structural Damage:

    A house is built with concrete, timber and steel. Whilst concrete can endure lots of wetting and drying cycles, timber and steel do not do so well. Timber will rot and steel will rust (steel in the internal structure of the house do not get much protection coatings because it is not meant to encounter any water in its lifetime).

    The slow leaks that show up as stains are more damaging because these can be left unattended to for long periods because towels and buckets are not needed during storm events. Then these are promptly forgotten about when the rain stops. The structure gets unseen stress over long periods of time and years later, major structural repairs will be required.

    It also seems like damp timber is a good breeding ground for white ants…

    • Condensation and Mould:

    Not all condensation and mould are caused by leaking roofs. Most are the result of poorly insulated ceilings and lack of roof attic ventilation. These situations cause widespread and thin zones of mould.

    When the mould patch turns brown black, it is no longer an insulation problem. There is a persistent roof leak that introduces moisture on a regular basis. The ceilings are now in danger of collapse.

    And because mould spores can bring on allergic reactions, residents can suffer harmful health effects.

    • Destruction of your home’s interior:

    The large roof leaks are the reason for hefty insurance payouts. Not only will sensitive electronic gadgets short circuit, electrical lights and power can make life dangerous. Wet carpet, collapsed ceilings, damaged furniture and paint damage can be expensive to rectify. Thankfully, if you have home insurance, there is compensation coming.

    But (and this is a huge BUT).

    Often, your home insurance will not cover the cost of repairing your roof. There is a clause called ‘Lack of roof maintenance’ that insurance companies have been using to limit their storm insurance payouts…

    mould and structural damage due to long term roof leak

    Sydney Roof Repair Guide Tip # 3: DIY Tips for Roof leaks

    We understand that the roofing skills of a typical homeowner falls on a spectrum. There are measures that can be taken by the average homeowner before professional roofing services are called upon – that can limit the damages that roof leaks can cause.

    Do Your Own is for the brave and physical agile property owner. While these qualities can be low bars for entry into the roofing world, there is still one big challenge. And this is the one of guidance.

    We have lots of valuable guidance on our website on roof repairs and lots of our clients have seen our roof repair videos. These can be enough to provide confidence to the DIY property owner.

    Simple DIY roof work that can be undertaken are:

    • Clean leaf debris off the roof and gutters:

    Most single storey gutters are within easy reach from a short ladder. Gloves, a bucket and a leaf blower are essential tools for cleaning gutters and valleys. If you are not afraid of heights, then you can get on your roof (but keep away from the edge and do it when it is dry) and blow the roof down.

    This will eliminate leaf blockage roof leaks.

    It is also a change to inspect the roof for broken roof tiles, rusty roofs and faulty flashings.

    • Replace broken roof tiles:

    You will know where to get spare tiles for your roof. And also how to change a roof tile (Youtube has many videos on this). If you are caught without a spare roof tile, we have a video on how to effectively repair a broken roof tile.

    • Inspect the ceilings and walls after heavy rains:

    In most situations, there will be signs of roof leaks that become observable after a rain event. You may even be able to hear dripping sounds. You will not have a roofer in your pocket when this happens – so, you are the only one who is able to observe, take pictures/videos of the situation so that it can be presented to a roof repairer when the opportunity comes around.

    This information is very valuable for your roof repairer.

    DIY gutter clean needed

    Sydney Roof Repair Guide Tip # 4: The Solutions that Professional Roofers will provide you

    Just like you are better off taking your car to a licenced car mechanic for regular servicing and repair work, it is the same with your roof. A professional roof repairer will take care of your complex roof problems better than you can:

    • Expert Leak Detection:

    Professional roof repairers call themselves ‘Roof Surgeons’. They detect the likely cause of a roof leak and come up with a procedure to ‘open up the roof’, perform the anticipated operation and have a dig around to see if there are any other potential problems. This last step is what separates the real professional roof repairer from the so called ‘Roof Doctors’ who ply their trade without the necessary hard earned skills.

    Whilst Roof Doctors attempt to remove the symptoms with generic handiwork, The highly skilled Roofing Professionals actually do everything to establish a CURE. And the real HONEST roofing experts will do a proper roof repair inspection before they come up with the most effective solution.

    It will involve a lot of patience, using checklists and sometimes multiple repeat repair procedures. But a CURE is certain.

    • The correct materials and repair techniques:

    It is not lots of roofing silicone that will do the job of fixing a roof leak.

    Elon Musk lives on “FIRST PRINCIPLES”. And he happens to make things happen.

    It is the same with repairing roof leaks. First principle thinking is needed to come up with the correct repair technique. This may mean changing the roofing materials over to more appropriate materials.

    It may also mean coming up with creative ways of dealing with difficult roof situations.

    • The important warranty and follow -Up services:

    We, at the Roofing Professionals Westside, frequently encounter home owners who have tried multiple roof repair companies without a successful roof repair. We are called in because the homeowner has given up on the preceding ‘Roof Doctors’… and when asked about their warranties, the homeowner’s response was that these other roofers were all unable to honour any of their warranties.

    The Roofing Professionals Westside seems to be in the minority when it comes to Roof repairers who have firm warranty promises that they always honour.

    When you look up reviews on roof repairers, go right past those that allege “quick and successful fix on the first attempt’. You will rarely find a review that “they were undeterred and came back several times until the roof problem was successfully resolved”.

    find the cause of the roof leak

    Sydney Roof Repair Guide Tip # 5: Who do you trust for your Roof Repair Needs?

    You will need to do a bit of research work to find your ideal roofer who you can ABSOLUTELY TRUST to understand your roof problem and come up with guaranteed solutions:

    • Local Expertise:

    During the times when demand for roof repairers peak (like hail storms and damaging storms), Sydneysiders will see an influx of ‘out of town’ roofers. Nobody knows Sydney roofs like Sydney roofers. And these transient roofers have skills and techniques that may not work for Sydney.

    A Sydney roofer for a Sydney roof problem is the best fit.

    And to narrow the field even more, most Sydney roofers do not travel far from their home suburb. Shire roofers fix Shire roofs…

    This makes it extremely difficult to find the right roofer that you can trust to have the right expertise and to actually use it..

    • Track record:

    We cannot help but leave CLUES as we navigate through our work. There are obvious clues (like the overinflated 5 star reviews) and more nuanced clues that are better indicators of the track record of a roofer.

    The obvious clues are the easiest to fake (we all know about facebook, instagram etc).

    The subtle ones are the meaningful clues that a diligent homeowner has to go after.

    • Proof of adequate training:

    Most Sydney roofers will carry a trade licence.

    This is NOT proof of adequate training. It is just evidence that the NSW Government has received sufficient proof of a minimum level of competence.

    Is there a roofing company out there who is actively involved in training their roofers to the highest standard?

    Sydney Roof Repair Guide Tip # 6: How to use this guide to get you the best result for your roof issues?

    Every roof is different and so are the owners of the properties. Since each situation calls for a different solution, this roof repair guide can only provide generalised advice for homeowners with problematic roofs.
    But this guide is sufficient to inform all homeowners of how most roofs in Sydney can benefit from timely repairs when they spring a leak – and even before they start leaking. There is a ton of links on this guide to handy resources that discuss each different class of roof repairs in deeper detail. Just pop back up this guide and find the topic that interests you the most to start your journey to become an educated property owner.

    When you are done with this, there are further suggested pathways below that you can take:

    • Further afield applications:

    We, at The Roofing Professionals Westside here in Sydney, do things our way. We cater for the locals in everything we do.
    But we have been around for over two decades and there are a lot of visitors from ‘out of town’. The rest of New South Wales, Australia and globally.

    Most ‘First Principle’ operations have relevant applications every where in the world. So our guide can have wide application with its narrow expertise.

    All roofs behave in similar fashion. And roofers globally fit in similar moulds. A Good Sydney roofer will be a good roofer anywhere in the world.

    Good Roofers exist everywhere, but they form less than 20% of the total pool of available roofers. The trick is in finding them amongst the rest.

    Our roof repair guide provides handy tips to give you BETTER ODDS in finding the right roofer for your roofing needs. We do not have specific recommendations to make your search easy. You will have to do this hard work yourself…

    • The roof repair AI bot:

    Artificial Intelligence and the ‘Large Language Models’ have started their rapid growth into how modern information is gathered and published. This will have upsides and threats. We will be trying to keep pace with this AI advancement and make use of the upside applications.

    We have a trained AI bot that should answer any of your roof repair questions without ‘hallucinating’ too much. Obviously, our AI bot will get better with time and we invest in more training and processing speed.

    Give our AI Bot a try. Then give us some feedback – so that we can train it better!

    • Reach out to us:

    If you are not in Sydney and you have a question about your particular roof problem, you can leave a comment below. It will be answered.

    Those who are fortunate enough to be in the Sydney metropolitan areas can BOOK a session with us by tapping the button below:

    You will be taken to our booking calendar. Once you make a booking, we can stay in touch and communicate properly.

     

    Book Your Appointment with US

  • Latest Sydney roof repair news the roofing professionals westside

    Latest Sydney roof repair news the roofing professionals westside

    Getting roof repairs done in Sydney can be challenging – so it is worth keeping up with the latest updates

    Posted Monday 26th June 2023:

    [su_photo_panel border=”10px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”3″ text_align=”center” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/CHAT-with-Jack-the-roofer.jpg” alt=”Chat with Jack” url=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/chat-with-jack/” target=”blank”]You can now chat with Jack[/su_photo_panel]

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Jack has harnessed the help of ChatGPT to personally answer your questions.

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    [su_photo_panel border=”10px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”3″ text_align=”center” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/CHAT-with-Jack-the-roofer.jpg” alt=”Chat with Jack” url=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/chat-with-jack/” target=”blank”]You can now chat with Jack[/su_photo_panel]

    How time flies! It is almost a year since my last update (announcing my ‘transition’ (sic)) after over two decades in the Sydney roof repair business

    A lot has happened over at The ROOFING PORTAL (where I have spent the past year) – but since a lot of clients still come through this website to find Jack, so that they can get their roof looked at… Jack felt that it was worthwhile to leave his ‘persona’ HERE to help property owners navigate forward.

    2023 has been the year of ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
    CHATGPT popped up and the world changed.

    But Jack isn’t about to deny the world’s transition into an AI driven ecosystem.

    So, He has actually done something about it!

    Jack is betting that the Roofing Professionals Westside is the FIRST on the Sydney ROOFING scene with a ChatGPT interface that will permit visitors to chat away with the owner of the business 24/7.
    This is a GAMECHANGER for the roof repair businesses in Sydney.

    The question that Jack has been asking himself this year is “How can I use AI to make it easier for property owners to gather as much useful information as possible to HELP them make the right decisions about their roofs?”

    Jack believes that the ability of Large Language Models to pick through his knowledge base and serve it up through precise prompting (questioning) is THE ANSWER.

    Try chatting with Jack and leave some feed back on the comments section of the chat page. Let Jack know what improvements will make your visit worthwhile…

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Monday 11th July 2022:

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/The-Roofing-Prtofessionals-Westside-in-semi-retirement.jpg”]What is the meaning of Life after 65?[/su_photo_panel]

    [su_spoiler title=”

    The Roofing Professionals Westside is in transition.

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/The-Roofing-Prtofessionals-Westside-in-semi-retirement.jpg”]What is the meaning of Life after 65?[/su_photo_panel]

    After over two decades in the Sydney roof repair business, Jack just celebrated his 65th birthday and it is now official.

    Jack is putting The Roofing Professionals Westside into semi-retirement.

    But Jack isn’t about to retire from the Sydney roof repair game…

    So, what/who exactly is being retired?

    While the Roofing Professionals Westside is having some ‘downtime’, this only applies to new roof repair enquiries.
    The business has months of work already booked in – that it is obliged to deliver. It will be concentrating on getting all this roofing work done in the next 3 to 4 months.

    Jack has made the difficult decision to disappoint Sydney homeowners looking to get their roofs repaired, so that he can concentrate on delivering current commitments and also have time to build the foundation of the next roofing journey that he will be undertaking post 65…

    Jack is wrestling with the question: “What is the meaning of Life?”.

    And if you are interested in his answer, go to our ‘ABOUT US” page and watch his video…

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Sunday 20th March 2022:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Can’t get a roofer in Sydney to look at your roof leak?

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Leaking-Sydney-roof-720.jpg”]Our booking system has MAXED OUT[/su_photo_panel]
    You are not the only one.

    “I have called out to about 25 roofers (seriously) no can do. I have never chased so many roofers as i have chased men lol …”

    “Thanks Jack, can you put me on your wait list. We’re all praying for no more heavy rain!”

    We at the Roofing Professionals Westside are totally MAXED OUT with requests to look at fixing leaking roofs in Sydney. We are currently booked out to May (and that is just to look at a leaking roof).

    It will actually take longer to do the actual repair work.

    And guess what happens in a situation like this?

    Roof repair prices will ‘go through the roof’. Unfortunately for homeowners, our only solution to throttle back our waitlist for roof repairs is to raise prices. This is also the solution for most Sydney roofers out there.

    So, Sydney homeowners will need to prepare themselves not only for long delays in getting their leaking roofs repaired – but also paying more for this service.

    So many homeowners have been trying to contact us without success because our booking calendar is full (we don’t answer our phones any more) and our contact form is the only avenue. These contact form enquiries are overflowing and we won’t be able to get to most of you who cannot afford to wait.

    There are other roofers out there who may be able to help you. Try them and If you really get stuck, then come back to us later.

    We can only do our best under these conditions…

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Sunday 6th March 2022:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Disaster zone for Sydney roofers?

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    As we enter our third week of the big Sydney wet, Sydney roofers are digging into their savings because they have not been able to earn a wage.

    At the same time, Sydney homeowners have got buckets and towels out to soak up rainwater that had made its way through their roofs. Although, they were grateful in escaping the flooding that other areas of Eastern Australia were suffering from, they still had a problem, since any sort of water ingress will potentially damage parts of their house.

    Our roofers at the Roofing Professionals Westside have spent every available window of opportunity (there weren’t many) in the last two weeks on warranty roof repairs. Since we do so many roof repairs, some of these will require additional work once heavy rain has done its testing. The Pareto Principle applies to roof repairs also – which means that 80% of our roof repairs will be successful, and the other 20% will need additional repair work to stop the roof leak.

    Our roofers take ownership of their work and understand that warranty repairs have a much higher priority than any new roof repair work that has been booked in. They concentrate on warranty roof repairs as soon as the weather allows. That means a lag time between when the weather fines up and when our roofers can actually start work on new roof repairs.

    Just like a bingle on the highway can cause massive traffic congestion by stalling traffic and slowing the restart because every driver slows down for a look as they drive past, the latest Sydney wet will do the same to our roofing work.

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/website-statistics-720.jpg”]Hoping that demand for roof repairs will go back to normal soon…[/su_photo_panel]

    The Roofing Professionals Westside only takes appointments through our website (our office phone has not been answered for the last 3 years) and the average traffic is around 300 visits per day. The latest Sydney wet has bumped traffic up to 700 per day.

    When demand doubles and there is no supply (because we cannot do any roof repair work), massive congestion is the result. We simply cannot cope.
    This means that we will not be able to get to every roof repair enquiry that comes through our website. It also means that the roof repair work we have booked in will be delayed by up to a month. Which ultimately means that repairing a roof leak caused by the latest Sydney WET may take 3 months before we can do anything about it.

    This is a MADDENING situation to be in.

    And we are doing something about this situation – but all good things take time. HOPE for Sydney roofers and homeowners is on its way. Stay tuned.

    In the meantime, you will probably have to get another Sydney roofer to investigate your roof leak – so it pays to know a little about roof leaks first.
    We have a page dedicated to reasons why a roof will leak during light and heavy rain that is worth a visit while you are waiting for your roof repair person.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Sunday 20th February 2022:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    The start of 2022 has been challenging for Sydney roofers

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]
    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Sydney-rain-forecast-March-combimed-2022.jpg”]The long range weather forecast for Sydney is consistently wrong[/su_photo_panel]

    As 2022 settles into an election year, and we are all trying to adjust to a world locked into a COVID zoo, Sydney roofers have struggled with the unpredictable weather for the first two months.

    If the long range forecast is accurate (which is highly unlikely), the end of February will mean that 50% of the available work days this year have been weather affected (rain or heat). This has resulted in delays to roof repairs for homeowners and low productivity for our roofers.

    We have given up providing firm dates for our roofing clients to do their roof repair work. We have been worse that the weather forecasters – more often wrong than right.

    To start the year off, roofing prices have skyrocketed. Supply chain issues continue with roof insulation and colorbond shortages. And now, the Sydney weather wants to play a part in disrupting work on roofs.

    2022 may turn out to be the YEAR OF UNCERTAINTY.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Sunday 5th December 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    The humble roofers silicone goes through the roof

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]
    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/expensive-roofers-silicone-leads-to-increased-roof-repair-prices.jpg”]The humble roofers silicone goes through the roof[/su_photo_panel]

    A year ago, $5.00 for a tube of Roofers silicone sealant was on the high side.

    Now that we are in a global supply shortage, we are no longer looking at 5 to 10 % price rises. That the price of silicone sealants is “GOING THROUTH THE ROOF” is a prime example why roof repairs will start following suit.

    Today, a tube of roofers silicone is upwards of $10. It is anticipated that it may even go up to $15 in the new year.

    Sydney homeowners will have to brace themselves for higher roof repair prices next year. If it is any consolation, Sydney home prices went up by 30% this year – so every home owner should still be able to afford higher roof repair prices…

    But you can still save a lot by getting in early… BOOK IN your roof inspection ASAP.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Wednesday 27th October 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Roofers in Sydney HIT by insulation shortage.

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]
    In 2021, we had a timber shortage. Pre COVID, we were scrambling to get timber battens for our roof replacements. Now that we have our freedom, we are being hit by more shortages!

    We crawled along during COVID in Sydney – not realising that there was going to be further problems after ‘FREEDOM DAY’ arrived in October. As we started back to work and placed our fresh orders for building materials, there were delays in deliveries.
    “It is a supply chain problem” we were told.

    There is a steel shortage. We started to live with that.

    Last week, I placed an order for colorbond materials plus blanket insulation. Anti-condensation blanket is an essential component of a new roof.

    “Sorry, we cannot supply the building blanket until sometime late November..” came back the reply.
    Without the building blanket, we cannot install the new roof.

    Whilst we managed to source some overseas supply of building blanket for this job, we have now put all our other colorbond roof replacement jobs on HOLD. Until we can get assured supply, we cannot commit to a start date.

    The good news for the majority of our clients waiting for roof repair work to their leaking roofs is that roof repairs do not need a building blanket. That means they can get their roof repair work done a bit earlier than anticipated.

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Building-blanket-shortage.jpg” alt=”Building Blanket shortage in Sydney” width=”720″ height=”446″][/su_photo_panel]

    Therefore, if you are looking for a roof replacement, you need to wait a while.

    For roof repair work, we now have more capacity. So, book in your roof repair inspection now before other supply chain problems creep into the roof repair segment of the industry.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Wednesday 20th October 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Roofing prices keep on rising.

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    Homeowners will be slugged with more rounds of price rises as Sydney wakes up Post COVID 2021

    The Australian Financial review reported in August that China is withholding steel supplies to Australia and this will impact our construction industry.

    The cost of zinc coated steel rose dramatically through 2021 and we are in a weird situation where zincalume roofing materials are more expensive to buy than colorbond. This defies logic – much like how water can sometimes be more expensive that Coca-Cola.

    We did not think this lopsided situation was going to last and now the anticipated ‘catch up’ in pricing has just been announced by Stramit and all the other roofing manufacturers.

    It is now official.
    Colorbond prices will go up about 10% next January.

    As we all wake up from DELTA and head into the Christmas rush, there will be labour shortages in the roofing industry. That means labour prices will go the same way as steel prices.

    It is just like property prices in Sydney. It keeps on going up…

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Colorbond-price-rise-2022.jpg” alt=”colorbond price rise in january 2022″ width=”720″ height=”1183″][/su_photo_panel]

    There is only a small window of opportunity to get roofing work done this year before you end up paying a large premium next year. Get in now and lock in the price of your roof job.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Monday 27th September 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    FULL CAPACITY CONSTRUCTION activity permitted from 27th September 2021

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    The roadmap for construction work in NSW is now clear.

    All construction workers in Sydney can go back to work from 27th September 2021. What is not totally clear is our position in the roof repair industry.

    Construction work has been declared during COVID as work to un-occupied building sites. The small occupied building sites where renovations and roof repairs are being carried out is determined to be PRESCRIBED work.

    All the published NSW government literature infer that outdoor roof repair work is now UNLIMITED (as of 27th September 2021). Anyone from any LGA can NOW work on roofs.

    Reference the NSW Government web page here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rules/authorised-workers/renovations-repairs-maintenance-and-cleaning

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Prescribed-work-restrictions-greater-sydney-27-sept.jpg” alt=”Roof repair work in greater Sydney is unrestricted”][/su_photo_panel]

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Prescribed-work-restrictions-LGA-concern-27-sept.jpg” alt=”Roof repair in locked LGAs is unrestricted”][/su_photo_panel]

    Based on this information, ALL our roofers will be on the tools from today.

    It will be a HECTIC 3 months to Christmas for our roofers.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Wednesday 18th August 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Roof repairs in Sydney now PERMITTED on PRESCRIBED list

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    Are you confused about whether roof repairs can be carried out in Sydney during the current (August 2021) COVID lockdown?

    We are just as confused as many Sydney homeowners. But now, we are able to paint a cleared picture of where the roof repair industry in Sydney stands for the second part of August.

    >

    As of Monday 16th August, The Roofing Professionals Westside is permitted to carry out roof repairs ANYWHERE in Sydney (including in ALL the restricted LGAs). This is because the majority of our workers live OUTSIDE the restricted LGAs.

    And roof repairs in Sydney is now on the ‘PRESCRIBED’ list of home renovation work – meaning that we are back on the ‘essential work’ list.

    Reference the NSW Government web page here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rules/authorised-workers/renovations-repairs-maintenance-and-cleaning

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/img-opt-611cc90866e59-Prescribed-roof-repair-work-in-Sydney.jpg”][/su_photo_panel]

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/img-opt-611cc90647987-Permitted-roof-repair-work-in-Sydney-in-locked-LGAs.jpg”][/su_photo_panel

    This means that our roof repairs booked in the restricted LGAs can now proceed.
    It also means homeowners can start booking in roof inspections with us with some level of confidence that the work can be permitted to proceed.

    Book at our website now if you have a roof inspection done by us in August.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Wednesday 28th July 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Today, the NSW Government gave us permission to do selected roof repairs in Sydney.

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    In the next month of August, the NSW Government has eased restrictions for the construction industry. This means that targeted work in Local Government Areas that are not firmly locked down is now permitted. If you are fortunate to be in the Northern, Eastern and Central LGA’s, you can get your roof repairs done.

    The latest COVID restrictions means that our roof repair teams are able to carry out roof repairs in occupied residential premises under certain guidelines.

    The Roofing Professionals Westside is compliant with the latest health guidelines.

    If you are looking at booking roof inspections during the month of August, this is possible if we all take a few additional steps to ensure that ‘contactless’ roof repair inspections can be carried out.

    More details on our CONTACT booking page.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Sunday 17th July 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Roof repair work paused in Sydney due to DELTA COVID threat.

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”] [su_photo_panel border=”2px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”4″ photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/NSW-COVID-construction-restrictions-17-july-2021.jpg” alt=”NSW government pauses construction work until August 2021″ target=”blank”]NSW government pauses construction work until August 2021[/su_photo_panel]

    Many of us tuned in the NSW Government COVID update yesterday (17th July 2021) at 11am. We did not expect our premier to bring the hammer down on the construction industry. But she did.
    Roof repair work falls under the umbrella of the building industry and when construction activity is ‘paused’, we are also forced into hibernation. Under the current restrictions, the earliest that we can get our roof technicians out to repair your leaking roofs will be Monday 2nd August.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Thursday 6th May 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Why our roofing prices keep on rising….

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/How-much-does-a-roofer-make-in-Sydney-scaled-1.jpg”][/su_photo_panel] We have just received another round of notifications that roofing materials will go up another 6.5% in July this year.
    And good roofers are hard to get (and keep). We have good roofers and pay them a lot more than the Sydney average wage. So you can see that labour costs for roofing work are ‘sky-high’.

    There is little inflation in most consumer goods. BUT there is a lot of inflation in the building industry!
    So, the only way to get it cheaper is to do your roof repairs sooner rather than later…

    To find out how much an average roof repair costs in Sydney, go HERE.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Sunday 28th March 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Why roof maintenance is important if you want to claim roof repairs under insurance..

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”4″ photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Roof-repair-claim-rejected-by-insurance.jpg” alt=”Roof repair claim rejected by insurance company”]Most roof repair insurance claims for the recent rains will be REJECTED[/su_photo_panel]
    A lot of people will be putting in insurance claims for repairs to damage caused by leaking roofs after last weekend’s bout of heavy long duration rains.

    The recent deluge had no high winds. So, most of the roof leaks would have been cause by ‘dodgy’ roofs that could not cope with heavy rain.

    If you put in an insurance claim for roof repairs, you should know that the insurance will most likely reject your claim. The insurance company will send an assessor out in the next few weeks and the report that they will provide will most likely state: “…unfortunately the roof repairs are not storm related and are due to lack of roof maintenance.”
    The insurance company will NOT repair your leaking roof. At most, they will only repair the internal damage part of your claim…
    Go to this page for the reasons why roof repair insurance claims will most likely be rejected.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Sunday 21st March 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    When is this rain ever going to stop? I need my leaking roof fixed!.

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”4″ photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/how-to-deal-with-a-dripping-ceiling.jpg” alt=”what to do if you have a leaking roof”]A huge container to catch the drips from the ceiling is a start. What to do next?[/su_photo_panel]
    135mm of rain fell in Homebush on Saturday. The forecast is for more rain today and for the next two more days.

    [/su_spoiler]

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Why is it so hard to get a booking to do a roof inspection for a roof repair?.

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”] Imagine you are a doctor in a major hospital. It is late March 2020. COVID-19 just dumped a whole lot of sick people into your over-crowded wards. There are cries for help coming from all directions. Soon you become physically, mentally and emotionally drained. You feel like your hands are tied and your efficiency is way down. How do you triage the onslaught? After the last few days of constant rain, this is what it is like right now for us. It is raining and we cannot do any roof work. We have existing clients with old and new leaks. Our calendar is booked out and people are forced to come in via the second option of the booking form (and hoping for a cancellation – opening up a new timeslot) . It is mayhem. How do we stay sane? We do not answer our phones. So, for the next few weeks, the attention robber called the phone will ring out. We are no longer like firemen. We have to treat everything as ‘non-emergency’ situations. That is the only way we can stay energised and maintain focus on getting through as much work as possible in an orderly fashion. And also do the things that every human should set aside time for. Like eating well, exercising, spending time with loved ones and even a little bit of meditation We are here to play the “Long Game.” No use killing ourselves prematurely and reducing the time span that we can be useful to those we serve… In time, things will quieten down and we will get to your roof leak. Thanks. [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Thursday 18th March 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Why is it so hard to get a roof repaired after a heavy rain?….

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”] [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”4″ photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Heavy-flooding-march-18.jpg” alt=”This sort of weather is expected over the next few days in Sydney”]This sort of weather is expected over the next few days in Sydney[/su_photo_panel]

    The weather man’s predictions have been a bit off for Sydney weather this past month.

    We roofers in Sydney like a bit of rain to bring out the roof leaks to keep us in business. But prolonged days of heavy rain work against us because we cannot get on a roof and do any work. This sort of weather (heavy rain followed by a long dry spell) has another set of challenges for us. We would do many roof repairs in the dry period and these roofs get tested by the rain. The longer the dry period, the more roofs we would have repaired… The odds are that some of our repairs will be “found wanting”… So, before we can tackle any new roof leak repair work, we have an obligation to honour our warranties on the repair work that we racked up in the dry period. As soon as it dries up, we will be tackling any warranty repairs first. And depending on how many of these we have to do, fresh bookings for leaking roof inspections and repairs will need to take a ‘back seat’. If you are looking for a roof repair when this rain front moves away, our booking calendar will indicate our ‘up to date’ openings . Go to our booking calendar if you are in this category and what your roof inspected for a roof repair… [/su_spoiler]

    February 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Booking in your roof repair inspection just got easier….

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”] [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”4″ photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Booking-calendar-at-the-roofing-professionals-westside.jpg” alt=”Roof repair booking calendar for the roofing professionals westside”]You can now do an INSTANT BOOKING for your roof inspection[/su_photo_panel]

    Last week, we have rolled out a new option on our website to allow clients to do an INSTANT BOOKING to get their roof looked at.

    Do roofers bet on the weather?

    In Sydney (and the rest of Australia), anyone can make bets on the weather using their favourite bookmaker. So, what do they use for their ‘form guide’? I bet most of they will use the ‘BOM’ (Bureau Of Meteorology). It is the organisation with the most weather data for Australia. The BOM just did a ‘dirt’ on us this past week. It told us that rainy days were the norm. Instead of rain, we got sunny days. Our trust on the BOM just went down a few notches. We had bet on doing only a little bit of roof repair work and steeled ourselves for a flood of bookings for roof leaks. We just lost our bets. But what are our other choices? When next week comes around, we will log back into the BOM weather app and make our bets again. Suckers for punishment.

    How does the new roof repair booking calendar work?

    The BOM was ‘spot on’ last February. It warned us of a large rain event and it arrived as forecasted. I was not ready for it. This website got hit with so many roof repair enquiries through the contact form – that to this day, there is still about 100 enquiries that I have not been able to respond to. This is a massive failure on our system. Throughout last year, we struggled to get on top of the roofing enquiries. We never succeeded. But we did build on our roof inspection capacity. We now have two additional roofers trained up to look at leaking roofs with expert eyes. Training up Geoff and Mason for roof inspection work has more than doubled our capacity. And we have to put new systems in place make this possible. That is why we have introduced our new calendar booking system. It automates the insertion of your booking into our roof inspection calendar – making sure that you are not left out. You can now go into the calendar and find a time slot that suits you and make a firm roof inspection booking. Our internal allocation system then books in the most appropriate roof inspector for you. The old contact form is still available for certain circumstances. You will be booked manually once we make contact with you.

    Is our new roof inspection booking system an improvement?

    It has been a week, and the majority of our potential clients are using the booking calendar. A couple have used the ‘old’ contact form. And we even have a couple of people directly email us using the ‘info’ email. If you have made a booking and want to give us some feedback, make a comment on the bottom of this page. If you want to try out the new roof inspection booking system, just click on this link. [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Friday 12th February 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    The cost of roof repair and roof replacement work goes up on 1st March…

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”4″ photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/zincalume-price-increase-march-2021.jpg” alt=”zincalume price increase March 2021″]You have a couple of weeks to book your roof job in before the price rise in March[/su_photo_panel]
    Roofing work is just about to get more expensive.

    Bluescope has a monopoly on steel roofing products in Australia, and they are just about to jack up their prices. That means that every business downstream of the Bluescope steel mill will need to update (raise) their prices. We order a lot of our zincalume and colorbond roofing materials from Stramit and they have advised of a 4.5% price increase on colorbond and a 9% increase in zincalume products.

    What does that mean for homeowners who have roofing work to do?

    We have a lot of roof repair and roof replacement work booked in already. These clients are locked into our currently quoted pricing. These clients are the lucky ones. They will get their roof work done at the current price. We are quoting for work at the moment and all quotes accepted before March 1st will be at the current price structure. From 1st March, our pricing program will be based on the new increased prices. That means all work quoted or accepted from March will be at the more expensive rate.

    So, if you are on the verge of booking in some roof repair or roof replacement work, you have a couple of weeks to save yourself some money.

    [/su_spoiler]

    Posted Monday 25th January 2021:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    We got a couple of weeks of ‘catch-up’ roofing work done and the hot weather hit us and now we have another holiday coming…

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”4″ photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/finishing-touches-to-colorbond-roof-replacement.jpg” alt=”replace tile roof with colorbond roof – final touches”]The flashing work on any colorbond roof is the hardest to do. But this where the good roofers can be a bit imaginative.[/su_photo_panel]

    We did the final tidy up work to our tile to colorbond re-roof last week. The final touches are usually the most time consuming and it is where my roofers can show a bit of their own personal flair with their flashing work. Back to our difficult roof repair jobs again: The inner west and those difficult roof repair jobs are what we are used to. Back with harnesses and long ladders…. [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Replacing-front-gutter-in-Glebe.jpg”][/su_photo_panel] The ultimate roof repair checklist We have also tidied up our roof repair checklists and combined it into one ultimate roof repair checklist for use by homeowners and roof repairers. [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Leaking-roof-repair-checklist-1.jpg”][/su_photo_panel] [/su_spoiler] [su_spoiler title=”

    We are officially back from holidays to restart our roof repairs mission for 2021

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/img-opt-5ffe7ccee856e-Replacing-concrete-tile-roof-with-colorbond-roof-Jan-2021.jpg”][/su_photo_panel]

    We all wish our holidays were longer. But reality says that we have to do meaningful work for most of our lives. So, we are dusting ourselves off to re-boot 2021. We are luck with the weather this week and after doing some tidy up work today, my guys will be replacing a concrete tiled roof with a colorbond roof for the rest of this week. I have done a bit of tidy up work on this website during my holidays – so much of the functionality of this new website is good. There is still a bit more content and polishing up to do over the next few weeks.[/su_spoiler]

    Posted Thursday 31st Dec 2020:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Why we have to be prepared for change in the new year

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]It is not often that I go for 24 hours with out sleep. I did this on Tuesday. I  tried to push this new website to LIVE and it kept failing. So I had to spend all night doing the update on a live site. Had to keep going because the site was live. Then early Wednesday morning we drove down to Thredbo to do a family trip for a few days. Checked this website this morning and most of it was working. The website is built ‘Mobile-first’ and I checked it on Google Page Speed Insights this morning. It scored 98! YES! [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/img-opt-5ffe7f6bf3294-Google-page-speed-insights-mobile-13th-Jan-2021.jpg”][/su_photo_panel]

    Why do things have to change?

    The whole extended family took the trek to the top of Mt Kosciuszko today. 14 degrees and sunny when we took the chairlift at 9.30am. And the sun drifted in and out of the clouds as we started walking. We had packed for the forecasted ‘mixed’ weather – so we could strip our layers as we got warmer with the effort and as the sun popped out. The temperature drops 5 degrees as soon as the sun is blocked. We got to the top of the mountain around 12.15pm and the weather was beautiful. We gathered for a picnic and saw dark clouds roll in and out very quickly. We suspected that change was coming and made haste (after the queue for the summit monument photo) and started our return trip. At the highest toilet in Australia (just at the base of the last climb section), it started to sprinkle. It was big drops. Then the ‘pings’ started as small hail stones bounced off the steel walkway. We were glad that we had raingear in our backpacks that we could put on. That meant that while we were drenched outside, the inside stayed dry. And after 15 minutes, it all stopped. Our gear started to dry up as we made our way back to the chairlift. When we got off the panoramic chair ride down the mountain, the operators started telling the mountain bikers that the chairlift was going to be closing due to the oncoming weather. It was ‘Last ride” time. It took us 10 minutes to walk back to our lodge and the rain started to pelt down a couple of minutes after that. We all started the day prepared for the changing conditions – and when it happened, we were able to take it in our stride.

    Unconsciously, Change is what people crave for.

    My wife was hooked on her news feed. Victoria was going to lock down its borders on New years day to ‘us people’ from NSW. They did not want our strain of COVID19. One of our sons had come down from Townsville to the ACT. Was he going to pack up soon before Queensland closed its border to ACT residents? What is going to happen next? And this is what we are hooked on. We are afraid of change but we dislike boredom a lot more. Life is a story, and it has to keep moving. What is in store for the roof repair industry in 2021? Life is getting digital and COVID19 has accelerated the change in the acceptance of a new way of communicating. The roofing industry will follow this new way of life. Everyone embraced the phone as their ‘face’ to the rest of the world. In this way, all our communications to our potential clients will need to be geared to cater for this device. People do not search for services on the computer very much now. If they are hooked to watch ‘wide screen’ movies on the mobile screen, then the mobile is the ‘go-to’ device. The Roofing Professionals Westside are now forced to cater for this change in search and communication usage – and we are going BIG on mobile and this thing that Google calls ‘Core Web Vitals’ (just another way of saying that people want websites to load fast and have good usability on their tiny screens). That is why I went ‘sleepless’ in Sydney… So, if you are reading this, it should be a good experience and you will not mind returning. We have planned for a lot more changes in the way that we operate this year… so pop in every now and then. We are on the journey of redefining how roof repairs will be carried out in Sydney.[/su_spoiler]

    Posted Tuesday 29th December 2020:

    [su_spoiler title=”

    Right in the middle of a major website update right now

    ” style=”modern-orange” icon=”chevron-circle”]

      • It is the end of 2020 and I am in the middle of a website redesign.
      • Mobile devices are outstripping desktop computers for internet use – so everything is now ‘small screen’ centric.

    The speed of mobile data has a lot of catching up to do so, this new website is being re-designed to load fast on mobile devices. I am making my new website LIVE before all the finishing touches have been finalised. So, there will be some content missing in the early days – which will gradually get patched in from early 2021 All the best for 2021 and hope to see you if you intend to reach out for roof repair help [/su_spoiler]

  • What to do if the ceiling is leaking?

    What to do if the ceiling is leaking?

    [su_photo_panel border=”10px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”3″ text_align=”center” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/What-to-do-if-the-ceiling-is-leaking.jpg” alt=”You need the professionals for the best roof repairs” target=”blank”][/su_photo_panel]

     

    [su_list icon=”icon: heartbeat” icon_color=”#22eb3e” indent=”20″]

    It is raining heavily and suddenly you hear water drips above your ceiling…then you see water dropping from the ceiling…

    This probably means your roof has sprung a leak. And even though you have absolutely no chance of getting your roof leak repaired during the storm, it is not the end of the world.

    Take a deep breath and here is what you should do…

    • Don’t stress. It is quite easy to limit the damages from a leaking ceiling. If you have house insurance, you are covered for storm damages anyway…
    • Catch the water. Grab a water container and catch the water drips. Once you have caught the water, it will do no further damage. You may need more containers – but the rain (and the drip) will eventually stop.
    • Use towels. You will need some towels to soak up the leakage that is already on the floor and to catch the splashes from the water drips.
    • Save the ceiling. Find the lowest spot on the ceiling where it is dripping and poke a small hole through the ceiling. This will make it easier to place the container to catch the water drip. It will stop water from pooling on top of the ceiling – which will potentially lead to part of the ceiling collapsing. It is easier to fix a small hole in the ceiling than to replace a section of fallen ceiling.

    [/su_list]

    The reason people stress out when the ceiling is leaking is just the thought of the damage. If you can just let the rainwater pass through the ceiling and have a container to catch it under the ceiling – then there will be a minimum of damage.

    Just go with the flow – not against it.

    You can try the SES – but they will take a while to get to you and if they throw a tarpaulin over your roof – they can cause more damage to your roof.

    Eventually, the rain will stop and you can find a roofer to repair the roof leak (no rush – because roofers are always busy after it stops raining). If you have home insurance, contact your insurance company. They will usually be able to send their own roof repairers out to do temporary roof repairs while they assess your damage claim.

    For further ease of mind, there is a roof repairs checklist for homeowners that you can check out to see if you have covered everything…

    If you have a bit of time and want to do some research on the reasons why roofs leak and other roof repair information, there are lots of information on our website for you…

    You can also watch our video below:

    [su_youtube_advanced url=”https://youtu.be/sjowEvHmaE4?si=x1aTO9sG6L5t36hi” title=”What to do if your ceiling starts leaking”]

  • Roof leaks in heavy rain

    Roof leaks in heavy rain

    Sometimes roofs leak every time it rains and sometimes it has to be heavy rain – why?

    Roof leaks come from many drainage paths. Some of these paths need heavy rain

    This post has been moved to ‘7 most common reasons why roof leak’ page and it is the bottom half of that page…

  • What thickness colorbond roofing to use?

    What thickness colorbond roofing to use?

    What thickness colorbond roof to use – 0.42 BMT or 0.48 BMT?

    Bluescope in Australia makes blank colorbond metal coil for roofing manufacturers in several thicknesses. Roofing suppliers and manufacturers use two ways to describe the thickness of their roofing material:

    1. TCT (Total Coated Thickness). If you were to put a measuring caliper on the roofing sheet, this will be the reading that you will see. It is the actual thickness of the material plus (including) the paint coating.
    2. BMT (Base Metal Thickness): This is the actual thickness of the steel. The strength of the roof sheet is dependent on the thickness of the actual steel and the roof profile. The protective coatings virtually contribute nothing to the strength of the roof sheet. So when engineering calculations are performed, this method of describing the thickness is what counts.

    So, the best way to talk about thickness is to use BMT.
    Most manufacturer’s span tables use BMT

    Roofing manufacturers use these common thicknesses:

    • 0.35 BMT – for wall cladding
    • 0.42 BMT – the thinner choice for common roof profiles
    • 0.48 BMT – the thicker choice for common roof profiles
    • 0.55 BMT –  for standard and custom flashings
    • 0.60 BMT – for corrugated curved roofing
    • 0.70 BMT – special profiles like Lysaght Longline

    What is the difference between 0.42 BMT and 0.48 BMT roof sheeting?

    A typical layperson will think that the thicker roof will last the longest. The truth is that once rust starts to eat into the steel, the 0.06mm extra thickness does very little to slow down rust holes from developing.

    So what is the advantage of using 0.48 BMT?

    If you had a huge warehouse roof, it is economical to use as little steel as possible in the structural framing. The designer will choose to increase the roof spans to decrease the number of purlins. The thicker roof sheeting will allow this. This also translates to less roof fasteners and a quicker roof installation. For big roofs, all these add up and 0.48 BMT is the way to go.

    However, the purlins/battens on a residential roof are usually spaced to give the roof more stiffness and ease of foot access. Therefore, they are more closely spaced and the thinner 0.42 BMT roof sheet will be strong enough.

    That’s why the thicker roof material is usually associated with commercial roofs and the thinner gauge for residential roofs.

    [su_photo_panel border=”10px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”3″ text_align=”center” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/0.42-BMTcolorbond-roof-rib-damage.jpg” alt=”0.42 BMT colorbond trimdek roof rib damage” target=”blank”]Typical rib damage on 0.42 BMT Trimdek metal roof on end span[/su_photo_panel]

    When should 0.48 BMT roofing be used on residential roofs?

    I used to value cost savings more than functionality.

    And this meant that I would use the thinner 0.42 BMT roofing on all my residential roofs.

    Gradually, I realised the fallacy of this dogma.

    Most of our skillion roof replacements fall in the 30 t0 40 square metre range. The savings in material costs in using the thinner gauge roof sheeting is in the $50 to $100 range.

    Whilst the 0.42 BMT material has the strength to span between 900mm and 1200mm, it’s resistance to localised buckling due to heavy foot traffic is far lower than the 0.48 BMT.

    Inexperienced foot traffic on residential roofs (TV, Air conditioning, plumbing, gutter cleaning…) will result in localised buckling of the roof.

    [su_photo_panel border=”10px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”3″ text_align=”center” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/local-rib-buckling-on-trimdek-roof-sheet.jpg” alt=”0.42 BMT colorbond trimdek roof local rib damage” target=”blank”]Typical rib damage on 0.42 BMT Trimdek metal roof due to pedestrian traffic on end span[/su_photo_panel]

    In the long run, I would rather spend the extra $50 to $100 up front to reduce the likelihood of buckling damage during the service life of the roof.

    I now quote all my roof replacement work based on using 0.48 BMT roof sheeting. It is cheap insurance against local buckling damage.

    … But there is an exception. The ‘kliplok’ profiled roof sheets have a much higher resistance to buckling of the ribs – and sometimes, I would pick the 0.42 BMT over the 0.48 BMT.

    … All except the Lysaght ‘Kliplok 700 HS transverse fluted’ roof sheet.

    This is explained why on another specific post…

  • What to do if you have a leaking ‘Lemon’ roof.

    Is it better to repair or replace a roof?

    There are roofs in Sydney that leak since the day it was built. These are ‘Lemon’ roofs and are mostly beyond the possibility of a repair and therefore a complete roof replacement is warranted.

    Pair a lemon with a car and you get something unpleasant. As a roofer, lemon roofs are just as foul and I just see too many of these shocking roofs being installed for unsuspecting homeowners.

    Most days, I shake my head when I climb on a roof in Sydney. The faults on the roof are so blatantly obvious that it makes my job of finding where the roof leak is coming from – so un-challenging.

    Just as chefs should eat their own culinary creations, I think roofers should live under the roofs that they put up when Sydney gets those long bouts of stormy days. They can then have a go at trying to repair their own roof that they did not take the time and effort to do properly.

    When I stuff up and I don’t know about it – I keep thinking that I am a genius. The times that I have had to take responsibility for my errors have been the greatest learning opportunities.
    I just wish that all roofers are forced get to go back to fix the leaking roof that they have been responsible for…

    Only then will they realise that the roof is beyond repair and it should be replaced by a better roof.

    Some roofs are easy to repair and some are just too challenging – and demand a replacement instead.

    It is hard to go wrong on a factory roof in the outer western suburbs of Sydney. Long straight sheets. Regular rectangular shapes. Easy crane access. Easy parking. Simple edge flashings.

    Switch to an Inner west roof in the Erskineville and Newtown areas, and the degree of difficulty of installing a new roof ramps up. Add in skylights, flat skinny roofs, chimneys, parapets and parking inspectors…. And mistakes plus shortcuts. This is a recipe for disaster that points to roof leaks and premature roof lifespan.

    And probably resulting in needing a roof replacement rather than just a roof repair.

    For a better perspective on Inner west roofs, I have a special post on that subject.

    We hardly get to repair many factory roofs. But we get to fix a lot of residential roof leaks in Sydney’s inner west. It is the small roofs that have the highest failure rates when it comes to roof leaks. And these are the roofs that require an expensive roof replacement rather that a repair

    Be careful with flat metal roofs

    “Keep away from corrugated roofs.”
    This is my best advice for anyone contemplating the modern look of a low pitched roof. The corrugated roof profile is not designed to be laid ‘flat’. Flat corrugated roofs cannot be repaired effectively and often have to be replaced by a ‘kliplok’ or ‘trimdek’ profile roof

    5 degrees is usually the manufacturer’s recommended minimum slope for corrugated roofs.  See what happens if you don’t follow this pitch recommendation on a separate post.
    Personally, I think 8 degrees should be a better limit to set. I have seen way too many leaking corrugated roofs.
    Then people like cutting large holes on flat roofs and installing skylights.
    There are two things to think carefully about with these skylights.

    1. Choose the right skylight. Not all skylights can be installed on flat roofs.
    2. Design the flashings correctly. ALWAYS design and install a tray flashing .  See my leaking skylight page for tray flashing details.

    Even small holes for vent pipes and exhausts can benefit from a tray flashing – especially if the hole is cut where two roof sheets lap together.


    What is the best roof sheet profile for flat roofs? 
    I still prefer the ‘Kliplok’ profile for all flat roofs. The higher and stiffer ribs combined with ‘no screws’ cuts down on a lot of potential leakage paths. It is much better that the cheaper ‘Trimdek’ profile roof.

    Can ‘Lemon’ roofs be repaired at all?

    I have a friend who is quite patriotic and he used to support the local Holdens. He bought a Calais (remember the premium Holden Commodore?).
    After the sixth warranty repair in the first 6 months, he gave up on Holden. He sold the car and bought a Mazda. He keeps saying to this day that If Holden had just accepted the problems with the lemon car and gave him another one that worked – he would have stuck with the local manufacturer.


    It is pretty much the same with a roof if there are some major design/installation problems. You can keep repairing the roof leaks but these tend to be short term fixes.
    Usually it is better to just ‘bite the bullet’ and rip the offending roof off and replace it with a proper one. It does not matter if the roof is just 6 months old.


    There will always be exceptions. A good roofer will be able to assess the merits of a roof repair vs a roof replacement and make you a recommendation.

    The future for roofs in Sydney?

    More apartments are going up than houses. A lot of home owners will have strata managers looking at any roof problems. Small building envelopes and height restrictions means that architects are designing low pitched roofs (and making it look good).


    Both situations means that it will become more difficult to repair or replace problem roofs.
    Prevention is always better than cure (unless you want to live through disasters to really experience the lessons that can only be learnt this way).

    So, hopefully with the spread of better information, there will be less leaking ‘Lemon Roofs’ in Sydney.

  • What is a guaranteed roof repair?

    Roof repairs with a long warranty is what most homeowners want

    Sometimes, homeowners are more pro-active and want their roof repaired just in case there is a future problem brewing. But this is the minority.
    So, how do we approach our leaking roof repairs?

    [su_quote cite=”Jack Yuen”]When you challenge someone to a fight, you don’t need to be sure that you will win. You just need to be sure that you can go the distance…[/su_quote]

    A guaranteed repair to a leaking roof – what are the challenges?

    • You will lose money and go broke!
    • What if you don’t know where the leak is coming from?
    • What if you don’t know how to fix the roof leak?
    • What if the roof is a ‘can of worms’
    • How long do you guarantee the roof leak repair for?
    • What if the homeowner does not pay up?
    • What if everything goes wrong?

    Losing Money and going broke doing guaranteed roof repairs

    Initially, I was scared.

    Little expertise and little capital.

    The risk of losing money on a roof repair job was quite substantial. A few losing jobs and I could be going broke!

    So I understand the situation of many roof repairers starting off a business repairing leaking roofs. They are reluctant to offer any sort of firm roof repair guarantee that would jeopardise their livelihood.

    There is nothing like experience to hammer in life’s realities.

    After tens of thousands of successful leaking roof repairs under our belts, I can confirm that sometimes we lose money on a job. But losing money on a few roof repair jobs and going broke are two quite independent outcomes.

    We have a lot more successful roof repairs that are profitable and therefore we are a long way from going broke…

    Sometimes, we underestimate the work involved in fixing a roof leak. And we pay for it.
    …But we learn from those jobs and these experiences eventually pay us back big time!

    Why is the roof leaking?

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/img-opt-6010bb8ea93fd-badly-leaking-roof-920×547-1-e1632463207471.jpg”]A flat metal roof with skylights and intersecting a slate roof is sure to leak somewhere…[/su_photo_panel]

    Picture this roof that was leaking…….

    Skylights and flat metal roofs tangled up with a slate roof. If this was not enough of a challenge, there were multiple leaks. And to top it all off, a roofer had tried many times before to fix the leaks – unsuccessfully.

    There were at least 5 different reasons for the leaks that we could make out. The home owner was close to giving up. He was contemplating new replacement roofs.

    When I told my roofers that I had taken this roof repair job on, there were a few ‘dropped jaws”…
    This was going to be one big challenge.

    My guys fixed up all our ‘known’ reasons why the roof was leaking. And they waited for the next big rain.
    “… still a couple of small leaks coming through” was the response.
    Back again they went. More brain power to figure out where the ‘unlikely’ sources may be.

    And further repairs.

    Then we had the long dry period.

    “…still leaking” was the response. Back we went.

    Then heavy rain and hail.

    Then came the above confirmation of a dry home…. At last!

    We can always figure out where a leak is coming from. It just takes a few times if there are multiple sources contributing to one observed leak.

    How do we fix a roof leak?

    With a multitude of roof repair options at our disposal, we know how to fix any roof leak…. But only once we have figured out where the source of the leak is.

    The HOW? was once a problem.
    It is now totally replaced by the WHY?

    “Can of Worms” roof leaks

    [su_photo_panel shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/img-opt-6010bb90ad299-can-of-worms-roof.jpg”]Repairing flat corrugated roofs can be a can of worms[/su_photo_panel]

    “You just wouldn’t open a can of worms”

    … Just as we would not open up a roof that is obviously a ‘can of worms”.

    But the problem is that our perception has moved to a point where we think we can fix ANY roof leaks.

    So, we often open up roofs that are ‘cans of worms” . Somehow, my roofers always manage to contain things and very little of the worms have escaped!

    Roof still leaking after repair – how long is the warranty?

    [su_quote cite=”Jack Yuen”]If a roof repair is shown to be successful after the first big rain event, then chances are that it will not leak for years to come[/su_quote]

    My roofers ‘crack up’ when they hear of roofers giving roof repair guarantees that are measured in months. This is because my roofers measure their roof repair work in years. We don’t rely on taking deposits for roof repair work and not going through with the full commitment for the years down the track.

    I like the number 7
    So, we simply offer a 7 year warranty/guarantee.

    We have been around for decades –so there is a likely chance that we will be around for another 7 years.
    Even though the typical marriage struggles to get past the ‘7-year itch’!

    What else can go wrong with a roof repair?

    We make mistakes.
    Not everyone is honest.
    Not everyone pays.
    Sure. Murphy’s Law applies.

    But we have found over the years that if we keep moving forward, there are lots of people who like what we do and support us well along the way.

    Check out our SYDNEY ROOF REPAIRS page for more on roof repairs in Sydney

  • Why replace a tile roof with a colorbond roof?

    Why replace a tile roof with a colorbond roof?

    We should start with a few stories first then end with some videos of tile roof failures to give the colorbond Vs tile roof argument a send off…

    Replace tile roof with Colorbond – why would you do it?

    The debate of colorbond Vs tile roofs is an on-going one and it seems like the colorbond has got a lead…

    We should start with a few stories first then end with some videos of tile roof failures to give the colorbond Vs tile roof argument a send off…

    Why fix it if it ain’t broke?

    [su_photo_panel border=”10px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”3″ text_align=”center” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/tile-to-colorbond-roof-replacement.jpg” alt=”Replace concrete tile roof with colorbond metal roof” target=”blank”]This is what Tom did to transform the look of his problem roof.[/su_photo_panel]

    Tom had an old leaking tile roof.

    It happened to be old concrete roof tiles and he often wondered about its age and whether it was time for a new roof. Initially, it was a low priority item for him because he had just spent a few bucks on a new kitchen.

    … Until a storm showed up.

    The kitchen ceiling started to drip. It was an emergency but there were no roofers to be found.

    “… it is against Occupational Health and Safety regulations to send a roofer up on a wet roof in windy and wet conditions…” – was a typical response.

    Only the SES could help (apparently they worked under a different set of laws?).

    “ An old dried up tree branch fell off the back gum tree. It cracked a couple of roof tiles. We have put a tarp over the area and you will need to get a roofer out when the weather gets better…” The SES guys were great.

    Storms keep roofing crews busy – and it was a good two weeks before a roofer was able to peel the tarp off and take a look.

    “…Yep. A couple of cracked roof tiles. They are ‘Boral Windsors’. Bloody hard to find replacement for these now since Boral stopped producing Windsors a few years back…

    Lucky for you I have about 5 in my yard”

    This was the good news.

    The roofer had more to say….

    “ You will need more work on your ridge capping because the broken tiles are directly under the ridges… Also, there are quite a few loose ridges. Maybe the SES or just a maintenance thing…

    Probably about $3000 to do a proper fix.”

    Time to make an executive decision.

    For Tom, it was decision time.

    He had a healthy balance on his line of credit.

    The roof showed multiple dips (maybe because the roof tiles were too heavy?)

    The roofer had said that if there was sarking under this roof tiles, then maybe it would have kept the kitchen dry.

    The roof was hot – even though he had put a couple of whirly birds in a couple of summers before…

    So Tom started researching.

    He was after a roof that could withstand a falling branch. Looked good and straight. Had less maintenance issues …and a bit cooler.

    Initially, he was looking for a new replacement tile roof. Then he read all the talk on the internet about colorbond roofs.

    He Googled ‘replace tile roof with colorbond roof’…. And up popped a whole page published by a roofing materials supplier called ‘No 1 Roofing’.

    All the pros and cons of tile vs colorbond roofs.

    Tom made a decision. It was too easy…

    It was going to be a new colorbond roof!

    … Now, all he had to do was find a good roofer.

    …………………………………………………………………………..

    [su_spacer size=”40″]

    Terry had always dreamt of a good looking colorbond roof to replace his crap looking tile roof

    [su_photo_panel border=”10px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”3″ text_align=”center” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/tile-to-colorbond-2.jpg” alt=”Replacing terracotta tile roof with colorbond metal roof” target=”blank”]It is always nice to have a dream come true. This is even better than the colorbond ad! [/su_photo_panel]

    It was 2014 and Terry saw the Colorbond ad on TV.

    One day…. He was going to be able to run out in his pyjamas and admire his new colorbond roof. His old terracotta tiled roof looked crap, the tiles were very fragile. And the look of the tiles did not match with the other metal roofs that were hanging off it…

    Terry also thought: “Maybe new guttering…and colorbond fascia covers… That front porch sticks out like a ‘sore thumb’ – maybe Jack the roofer and his crew can do an upgrade?”

    That was Terry’s dream.

    In 2017, It came true…

    …………………………………………………..

    [su_spacer size=”40″]

    When roof tiles leak badly and just don’t work on a roof…

    [su_photo_panel border=”10px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”3″ text_align=”center” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/flat-tile-roof-replacement.jpg” alt=”Replacing leaking low pitched terracotta tile roof with colorbond metal roof” target=”blank”]It is either a low pitched tile roof that continues to leak – or a colorbond roof replacement that always stay watertight!

    [/su_photo_panel]

    “… it is just criminal how builders and roof tiles get away with their ignorance and laziness about where tiles just don’t work!” – my roofers regular rant.

    It is a fact that most roof tiles struggle to keep the heavy rain out when they are laid at anything less than 20 degrees.

    Roof tile manufacturers say that putting sarking under their tiles will stretch the minimum tile roof slope to as flat as 15 degrees. If you read between the lines, this reads: “We know that the tiles will leak – but the sarking will catch the leaking water and carry it to the eaves. Hopefully, no water will reach the internal ceilings…”

    … And they are mostly right.

    Until 10 or so years go by.

    The battens that sit on the top of the sarking, goes through hundreds of wet/dry cycles and start rotting. The roof tiles lose their support and collapse to a flatter position and cause more leakage. This is when water starts dripping onto the ceiling.

    When it comes to roof pitch versatility, Colorbond metal roofs come out the clear winner over roof tiles. You can build a colorbond metal roof from 1 degree to a 90 degree pitch. You just cannot do it with tiles.

    …………………………………………………………………………..

    [su_spacer size=”40″]

    Some tiles are better than others at resisting roof leaks…

    Terracotta tiles are generally better at handling the lower pitches. The interlocking upstream edge will prevent water from overflowing the top edge of the tile.

    Concrete roof tiles do not come with any ridging on the upstream edge. Water will run over the top edge as the roof pitch dips below 20 degrees.

    The flat profile concrete tiles tend to be worst. They leak everywhere…

    …. And then you have leaves.

    Trees are great.

    But they drop leaves on the roof.

    Leaves clog up the water courses of roof tiles and block the natural flow of water down the tiles (especially flat concrete tiles).

    [su_photo_panel border=”10px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 1px 2px #eeeeee” radius=”3″ text_align=”center” photo=”https://theroofingprofessionalswestside.com.au/wp-content/uploads/img-opt-5ffe7ce83b806-Colorbond-roof-replacement-c1-882×1024-1.jpg” alt=”Replacing leaking flat concrete tile roof with colorbond metal roof” target=”blank”]Leaves will cause leaks on flat profiled, low pitch tile roofs. But a colorbond roof does not care about leaves. It keeps working to keep the water out! [/su_photo_panel] …………………………… [su_spacer size=”40″]

    Why are tile roofs more common that colorbond roofs?

    If in some roofing situations, roof tiles are vastly inferior to colorbond metal roof sheeting. Then why are there so many roofs in Sydney covered with roof tiles?

    Well, for most well pitched roofs, tiles work satisfactorily. Besides, tiles can be a bit cheaper to put on a roof (not because of the cost of the material, but for various installation and industry factors). And there is the traditional way of thinking that roofs must be tiled.

    For a standard pitched roof in Sydney, tiles will be more prone to leakage than a colorbond metal roof. Ridge capping problems, cracked roof tiles, overflowing at base of valleys and downpipe discharges, and leaf blockage are very common with tiled roofs. But are non existent with metal colorbond roofs.

    For some other types of roofs, roof tiles just do not perform as well as metal roof sheeting. In fact, I would not even attempt to install roof tiles on some roofs because tiles just will not keep the rainwater out.

    In these instances, there is a clear winner in the colorbond vs tile roof debate.

    People do have ‘colorbond’ moments

    The owners were delighted…

    [su_testimonial name=”Greg” photo=”” company=”” url=”” target=”blank” border=”yes” class=””]The outcome itself was marvellous. I have those kind of colorbond moments they show on tv.[/su_testimonial]

    ………………………. [su_spacer size=”40″]

    More on low pitched tile roofs leakage problems…

    One of the common problems with tiled roofs is the belief by some Sydney builders and roofers that tiles can go on any roof – even on minimal pitch.

    Tile manufacturers stipulate the use of sarking under low pitched roofs (because they know that their tiles will leak) to try to extend the useability of their tiles. But while good sarking will keep out the water from the roof cavity – it does not prevent the tiles from leaking and soaking the timber roof battens.

    With enough cycles of wetting and drying, the timber battens will eventually rot out. Not a good situation to have. And because the battens are hidden, you cannot tell their condition without removing the roof tiles.

    Check out the video below.

    [su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq2Jn3DgTbU” title=”Sydney metal roof replacements – Is a colorbond metal roof better than roof tiles?”]

    And when you have overhanging trees, the situation gets worst. Over time, the leaks will rot the battens and cause the tiles to tilt over and the leaks starts getting worst:

    [su_spacer size=”40″]

    Another video below shows another leaking flat tile roof in dire straits:

    [su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/cUJYunHfzMY” title=”Low pitched tile roof leaks”]

    In our many years of replacing tile roofs with colorbond roofs, we consistently come up against the two main enemies of roof tiles.

    Trees and low pitches.

    So when you are considering a tile roof, you need to take these into account first. You may end up going with colorbond.

    I often tell people that I am extremely biased towards colorbond – BUT they need to take it with a grain of salt because we only do colorbond roof replacements  – and resist replacement tile roofs.

    The No 1 Roofing post I mentioned earlier is an independent view about replacing tile roofs with colorbond. It does have a lot more information about the topic than I have covered above.

    Pop over there for a read: No 1 Roofing post on advantages of colorbond roofs

    Then come back and make contact if you are thinking of a colorbond roof replacement.